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How Can A NJ Benefits Specialist Help?

For a NJ Benefits Specialistthere are many different types of interactions for NJ small business employee benefits.

For example, here is a log of recent activities for an active broker:

One of my customers opened a branch in GA, and needed a plan with a network that has doctors there – we’ll switch plans at his upcoming plan anniversary.

One of my NJ customers turned 65 and enrolled in Medicare January 1st. Since she was the last employee on her company group plan, we just term’d her retroactively to 1/1, so the group policy will terminate and the NJ insurer will stop billing, whew!

Today, I enrolled into a NJ employer group health plan an employee who was promoted from part-time to full-time, making him eligible for benefits.

I found out that some NJ group health insurers offer free/inexpensive flu shots.

A NJ employer called to ask me if the 90 day Waiting Period (before an employee can be eligible for employer benefits) also applies to a re-hire? Of course, I can get the answer for that!

One of my NJ customers mistakenly faxed a group medical change form directly to the insurer. We sent in a Corrected Form and I’ll followup to make sure the first incorrect form is disregarded.

Yesterday, I was shocked to get a call from a NJ group health insurance member whose wife had a stroke. Luckily his NJ company is insured by a very good insurer, who’ll assign a case manager to help.

Today, a NJ customer called me to help her with new job benefits. She isn’t sure she’ll stay at her new job and wanted to trade-off COBRA vs. re-enrolling in NJ Individual Health Insurance.

My latest work item is to help a NJ employee drop his daughter from his NJ group coverage, since she got a job (hooray!) with benefits that started last month. The carrier will probably process it retroactively if she had no recent claims.

With the turning of the New Year, I spent this week verifying that my NJ customer group health plans renewed ok, and sending the updated Benefit Summaries to the employers to share with their employees, to comply with the new regulations. Whew!

I just helped a NJ landscaper change from co-pay based plan, to an HSA-compatible plan. It’s a husband/wife business, so we moved the spouse under one family plan (to save on the deductible) and added a dental plan.

Yesterday, my issue-of-the-day was to get three NJ employee enrollment forms, processed retroactively. Luckily the NJ insurance company was granting generous exceptions due to the difficulties caused by Hurricane Sandy (boo).

One of the most fun activities for a NJ benefits specialist is when a customer’s employee has a baby! His wife works at a bank and will be going on leave, so he called me to work on adding his wife and newborn to his current single coverage.

Very nice, I received a referral from a sister at one NJ business customer, to her brother who owns NJ retail store and received an above-average group health insurance renewal rate increase.

Received another referral, when one of my customers had dinner with the wife of a landscaper, who had very rich benefits they don’t need, that they had purchased directly from the insurance carrier. NJ group rates are the same whether you buy through a broker or directly (if you buy directly, you don’t get broker services).

Today, I processed an Address Change, for a NJ customer who moved, and needed to switch plans to one that supported multiple states.

Today, I got quotes/alternatives for two new NJ customers who didn’t know where their brokers had gone.

My latest problem is an employee who dropped off her employer NJ group medical plan, to enroll in NJ individual health insurance … except the insurer is still billing the employer, due to a computer glitch that I had to track down!

Now is the time of year where many employees have to make “Open Enrollment” decisions at work. I received a call from a NJ small business owner, who was trying to decide between her husband’s corporate benefits, and her own NJ group health plan.

Yesterday, I worked with a business owner, whose son has NJ individual health insurance, but works part-time for the business, and can be eligible for benefits just like any other employee.

A customer called with a pile of invoices, not sure how to pay them out of his Health Savings Account.

An employer, who was pre-occupied with Hurricane Sandy, called to say he missed open enrollment, and wanted to make a mid-year plan change.

Received forms from an employer, for an employee who wants to switch plans at open enrollment, and an ex-employee who wants to enroll in “NJ State Continuation.”

I got a call from a customer at her doctor’s office, who requested that she pay the entire plan deductible, up front, before getting service.

Just got a call from NJ employer whose new hire has passed the company Waiting Period and wants to enroll in their medical plan. That makes up for another NJ employer who had an employee quit, and wants to enroll in “NJ State Continuation.”

Worked today with a NJ employer who needed a plan with a multi-state network that would help an employee working in NC.

Today, I had to work with a NJ insurer to track down a lost check that a customer had submitted using “bank on-line bill-pay.”

Today, I helped two different NJ customers fillout their Small Employer Certification, an annual audit required by NJ to maintain group health insurance policies. A lot of technical questions on the forms frequently confuse my customers!

I just received a request for proposal from a customer who is starting a new 5-person trucking company, and wants to offer benefits. It’s a family business, so I have to run the quote multiple ways (family vs. single + parent/children) to give them the best options.

One of my customer’s employees is now eligible for Medicare, but his wife isn’t. So as he is dropping off his employer’s NJ medical plan, I’m helping the wife enroll in NJ Individual Health Insurance.

Today, I worked with a young man who “aged-out” of NJ “Dependent Under 31” Coverage, so I helped him enroll in NJ Individual Health Insurance.

Today, I completed the processing of two NJ Individual Health Insurance (IHI) applications, and then got a call from another person (sole proprietor) who didn’t qualify for group coverage and also wanted IHI.

Yesterday, I completed working with a very small NJ business to setup a group dental plan with no pre-existing condition exclusion. The carrier came back with higher rates, since the customer is in a “loaded” industry. I had to research their SIC code to find out that they had filed their business registration (to NJ) with the wrong code!

Today, I visited a work location of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ – they treated me like a rock star (I can’t sing or dance)!

I just submitted a NJ group health insurance renewal, for a customer who eliminated one of their plan designs (moving all their employees into a single plan design).

One of my larger customers is switching carriers to save money. I’ll be conducting an “open enrollment” meeting with the employees within the next two weeks.

Recently, I helped a customer who had two employees, husband and spouse, who needed to evaluate whether it was better to have their kids covered under father or mother … or whether father or mother should cover the entire family?

Today’s issue was helping a customer understand the tax treatment of employer contributions to an employee’s Health Savings Account. I checked with the IRS and worked with my customer’s tax accountant to evaluate a couple of scenarios.

Now, I’m processing a NJ employee termination form for a NJ small business customer, since the ex-employee is not electing “NJ State Continuation” (e.g. mini-cobra).

Today, my issue was a NJ employee who didn’t send in her change form, to add her newborn, for two months after the DOB (THIS is a big mistake!)

Yesterday, my issue was getting a new NJ health insurance ID card for a customer who doesn’t speak English. Luckily, the insurer has an interactive-voice-response system, which works using touch-tones!

I helped a NJ small biz owner, whose husband was on a very expensive COBRA plan. They re-organized as a husband/wife biz and qualified for group coverage, where they could pick what they wanted (cheaper!)

An experienced benefits specialist and broker provides a variety of services!